Mortar-laying device



Aug. 3 1926. 1,594,775

J. P. GRESLEN MORTAR LAYING DEVICE Filed April 18, 1925 VEN TOR.

I A TTORN E YS.

Patented Aug. 3, 1926.

UNITED STATES JOSEPH P. GBESLEN, F BAHWAY, NEW JERSEY.

MORTAR-LAYER G DEVICE.

Application filed April 18, 1825. Serial No. 24,108.

' the erection of building walls of concrete blocks.

One object of the invention is to provide a device of this characterembodying novel and improved features of construction whereby apredetermined amount of mortar may be easily, quickly and evenly laidupon a concrete block wall in proper relation to the air holes thereinwithout the use of a trowel so that a saving of both time and mortar isobtained.

Another object is to provide a mortar spreading device in the form of aportable hopper to receive a quantity of mortar and be movably set upona Wall and havingvalved outlets so arranged as to discharge apredetermined amount of mortar upon the wall by action of gravity inproper'relation to the air holes in layers of uniform thickness.

Further objects are to provide such a device in which the outlets areelongated and flow of mortar therethrough is controlled by cut-ofi'slides which also serves to smooth off the top and sides of the layer ofthe mortar so that the mortar is laid in the form of a ribbon of uniformthickness; to provide a device of this character in which said slidesare longitudinally slidable by. means of a handle which also serves as ahand-hold for carrying the device; to so form the device as to enable itto be quickly positioned upon a wallin proper lateral relation and toform a layer of mortar of predetermined thickness, and .to obtain otherresults and advantages as may be brought out by the followingdescription.

eferring to the accompanying drawings in which corresponding and likeparts are designated throughout the several views by the same referencecharacters,

Figure 1 is a perspective of a mortar laying device embodying theinvention, the hopper walls being illustrated in dot and dash lines forclearness in illustration.

Figure 2 is a transverse vertical section view of the device showing itin operative position upon a building wall.

'Figure 3 is a fragmentary plan view of one corner of the device showingthe stop for limiting outward movement of the cutoff slides. I

Figure 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of one of the slides showingthe scraping finger for detaching the mortar from the sldes of thevdischarge opening and Figure 5 is a perspective view of a concrete blockWall showing mortar laid thereon by the device embodying invention.

specificall describing the present embodiment o the invention, thereference character A designates the body of the device which issubstantially rectangular in plan and is formed with two spaced andparallel elongated openings 1 the longitudinal edges of which arerabbeted at 2 to form guldeways for cut-off slides 33. One end of thebody A has fixedly secured thereto a handle 4, and the ends of theslides 3 opposite said handle are connected by another handle 5. Theslides 3 are held against displacement from the guideways 2 bytransverse bars 6 at the ends of the body which overlie the slides.

With this construction, it will be observed that by gripping the handlet in one hand and the handle 5 in the other hand an operator ma move theslides 3 longitudinally of the guideways 2 to open or close therespective openings 1.

A hopper wall 7 is provided to fit upon the top of the body to receive aquantity of mortar, and inverted V-shaped division wall 8 is secured tothe body between the openings 1 to direct the mortar toward therespective openings. Preferably the hopper walls 7 are removable fromthe body and are inclined inwardly for the purpose hereinafterdescribed.

The openings 1 in the body A are spaced apart a distance greater thanthe width of the air holes B commonly formed in concrete blocks and areof a width substantial- 1y equal to the distance between the sides ofsaid air holes and the corresponding sides of the concrete block. Thebottom of the body A is provided with a plurality of ribs 9 which are ofa width substantially equal to the desired thickness of the layer ofmortar to be placed upon the wall, said ribs being arranged to rest uponthe top of the wall between air holes and the outer sides of theconcrete block, as clearly shown in Figure 2. At one longitudinal edge,the body A is provided with a longitudinal flange 10 to abut the frontface of the building wall when the device is set upon the top of thewall, said flange thus serving to enable easy and quick positioning ofthe device upon the wall.

'quired by the following o In-operation, a quantity of mortar, is lacedon the body within the hop or walls ,"the cut-off slides 3 having firsten slid into position to close the openings 1; The device is then setupon the to of the building wall with theflange 10 abutting the face ofthe wall and the ribs 9 restin upon the top of the wall, whereupon the sides 3 are pulled outwardl by the handle 5 so that the mortar falls yaction of gravity through the o enings 1 onto'the wal The slides 3 arethen pushed into their closed positions and during this action serve inefi'ect as cutters and smoothers, whereby two ribbons C of mortar ofuniform thickness are laid upon the top of the wall (seerFigure 3).

The inwardly inclined walls of the hopper prevent entanglement thereofwith the line used by the mason in laying the concrete blocks, the toedges ofthe hopper wall being within t e building line.

It is desirable to provide means for preventing sticking of the mortarto the device, and accordingly the ends of the slides 3 may be formedwith scraping fingers 11 which slide along the sides of the openings 1to scrape the mortar therefrom. a g a It is necessary to prevent theslides 3 from beingaccidentally pulled completely out from the guides 2,and it is desirable that the slides be removable for the urpose ofcleaning the device. According I may form notches 12 in the edges of theslides 3 to be engaged by spring latches 13 secured to one end of thebody so that said latches will enter said notches 12 when the slides"are pulled outwardly to their limits and prevent the slides from beingcompletely removed. For removing the slides, the latches 13 may bemanually released from the notches 12 by means of the finger holds 14.

While I have shown and described the device as embodying certain detailsof construction, it will be understood that this is mainly forthepurpose of illustrating the principles of the invention and that manymodifications and changes can be made in the details of the constructionwithout departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Therefore,I do not desire to be understood as limiting myself except as reaims asconstrued in the light of the prior art.

close the same Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

and having a plurality of spaced and parallel elongated discharge openincut-off slides movable longitu ma 1y 0 said openings to open and andmeans for simultaneously operating said cut-ofi' slides.

'2. A mortar laying device comprising a hopper to receive mortar andhaving a handle fixed thereon, said hopper being formed with anelongated discharge opening, a cutoil slide movable longitudinally ofsaid openmg to open and close the same, and a handle connected to saidslide at the end thereof opposite the first-mentioned handle foroperating the same and cooperating with the firstmentioned handle forhandling said hopper.

3. A mortar laying device comprising a hopper to receive mortar andhaving a handle fixed at one end thereof, said hopper being formed witha lurality of spaced and parallel longitudina discharge openings,cut-oil slides movable longitudinally of said openings to open and closesaid openings, and a handle connected to all of said slides at the endsthereof opposite the first-mentioncd handle for simultaneousl operatingthe slides and cooperating with the first mentioned handle for handlingthe hopper.

4. A mortar laying device comprising a hopper to receive mortar andhaving an elongated discharge opening to extend longitudinally of thetop of a building wall, and a cut-off slide to open and close saidopening, said slide having means to slidably engage the side walls ofsaid opening to detach the mortar therefrom.

5. A mortar laying device comprising a hopper to receive mortar andhaving an elongated discharge opening, the bottom of said hopper beingprovided with means for spacing the hopper from the top of a buildingwall, and a cut-off slide to open and close said opening, means toslidably engage the side walls of said openin to detach the mortartherefrom, where y a ribbon of mortar of unifOIIIIII thickness can be weJOSEPH P. GRESLEN.

1. A mortar laying device comprising a hopper to receive mortar saidcut-off slide having deposited upon said

